


KidLock 2:  John & Harriet

by George_Sand



Series: KidLock [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Harriet is good at manipulating people, Harriet steals suff, John is a big brother, Kidlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-30 20:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10170974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/George_Sand/pseuds/George_Sand
Summary: John and Harriet don't get on.  John is 8 years old, Harriet is 6 years old.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Each KidLock is a one-off. They are not related to each other, and I've manipulated relative ages for my convenience. :)

“Jooooooohn,” Harriet said in a sing-song voice.

“Oh Jooooooohn,” she called as she crept toward his room.

“What, Harriet,” John replied, annoyed. 

John was eight years old and Harriet was six.  In those six years she had mastered many techniques of manipulation, especially effective upon adults, but John saw through her.  He saw through her wide, mock-innocent eyes right now.

“John, I’m hungry.”

“No.”

“I just need a few pounds to go to the druggist’s and buy some sweets.”

“No,” said John again, firmly.

“Come on big brother, just a few pouuuuuunds,” Harriet said, drawing the last word out in an affected whine.

“No!”

Immediately switching from pathetic to belligerent, Harriet snapped, “Fine!  I’ll get it from mummy then!”

John’s eyebrows knit together. ‘Getting money’ from their parents meant stealing it.  John had been faced with this dilemma more times than he could count.  His options were to give Harriet the money, passively let Harriet steal the money from mummy and daddy, or let Harriet steal the money and then tell on her. The bewildering part of the situation was that mummy and daddy were (almost) always aware of Harriet’s behavior and were surprisingly indifferent.  John shuddered to think what would happen if he stole from mummy’s purse or daddy’s billfold, but Harriet was apparently held to a lower standard.  Addicted to sugar, Harriet was always lounging about the house eating sweets.  Instead of reprimanding her for stealing money, their parents lackadaisically told her not to spoil her dinner and turned back to whatever they had been doing.

It wasn’t fair.  A few times, John had tried to restore equilibrium by giving Harriet money, or allowing her to steal it, then appropriating whatever she bought.  This, of course, backfired when Harriet’s eyes would fill with practiced tears and she’d run to mummy or daddy.  Her mean big brother had stolen her sweets!  Harriet would be comforted, John would be reprimanded, and the cycle would start over.

Now that Harriet was in school, she had a class full of students to manipulate.  She took the trinkets they brought to school, sometimes stealing them in secret, sometimes grabbing them out of the students’ hands and refusing to give them back, sometimes manipulating the students into giving them to her as gifts.  She amassed quite a collection of pencils, costume jewelry, trading cards and other junk.  She disclosed to John the ways in which she evaluated each student based upon the desirability of their possessions and upon the ease with which she could exploit them.  John watched her work with disgust and just a hint of fear.  How was she getting away with this?  Didn’t her teacher notice?  Or care?

One day Harriet came home particularly excited and, out of earshot of their parents, boasted about taking five pounds from her teacher’s purse.  That was too much for John.  He immediately told his parents, who insisted that John was talking nonsense.  He gathered the courage to tell Harriet’s teacher the next day at school, but she likewise would not believe him.  If anything, John had now established himself in the adults’ eyes as a paranoid tattle-tale.  Harriet helped to perpetuate their belief with her most innocent expressions and most charming smiles.  None of the students in her class came forward in support of John, either because they didn’t want to admit to being used or because they were genuinely afraid of Harriet’s power. 

In six short years she had developed these abilities, and John was the only one who wasn’t fooled.   


End file.
